Our Little (Great), Unimportant (Life Changing) Meeting
by Varmint
Summary: Who knew one single meeting could change everything? Soulmate AU! Orochimaru/Kankurou rare pair! There's also Jiraiya/Ino to be found. A lot more soulmate related rare pairs to be found within! Check it out if you want to see all of them. One-shot! First in the 'This is How I Met My Soulmate' Collection.


Summary: Who knew one single meeting could change everything? Soulmate AU!

Pairings:

Orochimaru/Kankurou

 _(Side/Mentioned but just barely/Blink and you might miss it!)_ Gaara/Sakura, Temari/Chouji, Shikamaru/Kiba, Jiraiya/Ino, Yugao/Hayate, Shikaku/Neji, and Yoshino/Tsume.

Warnings: There is angst, mixed with fluff and slight humor. So, it's a normal story of mine. There isn't anything scandalous, although if you don't approve of older people being in close relationships with young kids, turn back. In this universe, it's completely normal for soulmates to be of all ages. So having an adult being soulmates with a child isn't odd. Although romantic relationships aren't really started until both parties are mature enough to understand everything that happens when they are in a relationship of that kind.

Belong to: First in the 'This is How I Met My Soulmate' Collection

*Special thanks to SmartassWolf23 for helping me come up with quite a few bits of this story! She's the reason why Ino's with Jiraiya! I love you, you infuriatingly loveable woman! (If you're an Ino lover, check her shit out. It's pretty cool.)

* * *

Soul marks were incredibly important and personal. It was customary for only the parents of a person to see their mark before they ever met their soulmate. And after that, it was seen as taboo for someone to flaunt their mark. Even more so than being open with one's own sexuality. Soul marks were private. Showing one off was considered vulgar, a sign of one being a harlot and uneducated.

For people that had their marks hidden in places of their body that were easily concealed, life was easy. But for those that had them in much more visible places, like their wrists or shins, life was a bit more difficult. But for people like Kankurou, who happened to be unlucky enough to have his mark displayed on the left side of his neck, front and center like a shining beacon to all that saw him, an intricate design of snakes and skulls and leaves that had made him look like a thug from the day he had been born... Well, life was just about impossible for him.

From the snatches of childhood he could remember, his mother had always been amazed by the design her second child's soul mark happened to be. It was intricate with a snake's jaw opened right on his jugular vein, looking as if it were going in for a bite. All around the snake there were swirling leaves, a motley of skulls peppered throughout, unbelievably hyper realistic. And, finally, nestled in between his neck and his collar bone, the date that let Kankurou know when he would be meeting his soulmate.

As a child, snakes had brought him comfort rather than terror. Having an unbelievably real one on his neck had helped with that. Even though everybody else hated his mark, what it was and where it lay. They'd hated it when he was a child. And they still hated it now.

He'd made a younger Gaara cry on many occasions by running after him, telling him the snake would eat him. And Temari had run away from him enough times as well, tears welled up in her blue eyes as she ran to Baki Sensei for safety.

His father had always hated his soul mark. He hated the fact that his oldest son had his soul mark on his neck, that everyone in the village knew the kind of person his son's soulmate would be before the boy even met them. And he hated the fact that it was a snake, a dangerous and cunning creature known for its betrayals and calloused nature.

In his father's eyes, all that Kankurou's soulmate would bring was pain and fear.

As a naïve five year old that only knew about the good in the world, not the bad, Kankurou could not understand what was wrong with his soul mark. When he looked at his snake, all he could see was comfort and peace. Just like he knew Gaara felt when he looked at the flower petals that decorated his left rib cage and Temari experienced when she looked at the (pretty stupid, if Kankurou could admit) butterfly that decorated her right shoulder.

But when he'd turned six, Kankurou's bright eyed, optimistic way of looking at his snake changed.

Before this, the boy had idolized his snake and promised to become as strong as necessary for the person he was destined to spend the rest of his life with. Someone that was portrayed as a striking snake must have been a ninja, cunning and strong. And Kankurou wanted to make them proud the _second_ they met.

At six, though, Kankurou decided he would never care what anybody might think of him; not his family, not his soulmate.

He still remembered the conversation he had eavesdropped on clearly, having gone over it so many times it had been burned into his memory. And he still remembered how he had ran to his parents room in the hopes of some comfort after he'd been beaten up by a group of kids at the academy, who had all screamed about him being a _whore_. He'd run to them for help... But he'd only received the beginnings of what would be lifelong pain.

 _"It is a disgrace. Your son is a disgrace."_

 _"My son? Rasa, I am sorry to inform you of this, but he is_ our _son. It is not his fault he was born different."_

 _"He knows no shame! He parades that mark of his as if it wasn't an affront to our way of life!"_

 _"Do you wish to have him wear scarves in the desert? Rasa, that is unrealistic at best. Abusive at worst."_

 _"I wish he had never been born!"_

Before this conversation, Kankurou had never been able to fully understand why it was that he wasn't invited to go out and play like Temari and Gaara. He had not been able to understand why it was that while his siblings were allowed to be together at all times, even with the danger Gaara apparently posed, he was kept separated from them as often as possible. He had not been able to understand why kids mocked and insulted him or why Baki Sensei never allowed him to retaliate.

After this one conversation, though, Kankurou understood. He was treated differently because he _was_ different. Not in essence. No, in essence he was just another little kid like the rest of those his age. But he couldn't cover up his mark with clothes and his family was ashamed of this. The reason why he wasn't allowed to play with others was because he was seen as _dangerous_. All because of something he couldn't even control, something he had been born with.

He had changed after that. Instead of doing everything that was asked of him, Kankuro began to rebel and do things his own way. He no longer listened to Baki Sensei, instead he sought out the skilled puppet master, Sasori of the Red Sands, to teach him the shinobi art his father despised with all of his heart. His mother's pleas for him to slow down before he hurt himself were ignored and only met with Kankurou doing everything possible to piss his father off.

By the age of twelve, Kankurou had broken so many bones that the hospital refused to take care of him for reckless stunts. As a newly minted genin under Baki Bastard's iron grip, if the young teen hurt himself in a way the man deemed stupid enough to be punishable, the man would leave him to lick his wounds and try to heal himself. And Kankurou, being as stubborn as all of the men he had ever met in his life, dealt with his injuries with an aversion to asking for help.

The only time he had ever sought out any help was when he had been cornered on a mission to take care of rogues on the outskirts of Suna and had ended up with both his legs, countless ribs, and an arm broken. And he'd only allowed Gaara to carry him, refusing to have to listen to his sister scolding him like Baki would have done.

His father's punishments for his insolence were always brutal and left him even more injured, more bloodied, than his own misadventures. But the ever stubborn puppeteer dragged his bleeding body back to his room to nurse his wounds, refusing to give the man the pleasure of seeing him cry. And he refused to allow his family to find out about the true harshness of his father's character, more than aware that it would finish breaking his already fragile mother.

Silence and pain were Kankurou's constant companion. And all because of that damned snake.

Kankurou had never heard about somebody hating their soulmate. But if there was something he had learned throughout his short years of life, it was that there was a first time for everything.

~/~

When Orochimaru had been a child, he had lived a good life. Even with the soul mark clear on the right side of his neck, he had never been treated as less by his parents. The villagers treated him differently, but his father had always insisted that this was because their Clan had always been ostracized, there was nothing wrong with him.

Considering where his mark lay, Orochimaru now knew his childhood could have been much worse. But with the joint efforts of his parents and his longtime friend, Jiraiya, it had been as great as it could have gotten. Of course there were hiccups every here and there, moments that had left him despairing and cursing his birth. But in the long run, it had all been worth it, for those uncomfortable situations had allowed him to grow and learn, to become the capable jounin he was now.

Years upon years of patiently waiting would finally come to fruition in a few weeks. For as far long as he could remember, he had known the exact date when he would meet his soulmate. After nights spent repeating it like a mantra of good luck before the day began and ended, it was burned into his memory.

In his younger days, the Sannin had cursed the fact that he would have to wait until he was well into his years to be able to meet his other half. But his thoughts on this had changed as he had grown and learned to accept the fact that, even though he wouldn't be able to grow old with his soulmate, he'd at least be able to meet them. At least he hadn't been dealt the incredibly unfair card in fate's draw that was having _no_ soulmate. He had seen what having no one to hope for could do. He still had not spoken to Tsunade after she had abandoned the village.

He'd be meeting his soulmate during this year's Chunin Exams.

When Minato had informed him that he'd most probably be filling in for the young Hayate if his health became even more complicated than it already was, Orochimaru's heart had leaped into his throat. The fact that fate had set up this long awaited meeting in such a way made him think that his soulmate would most probably be one of the genin trying to be promoted to chunin. So they would be young. The likelihood of it being a jounin sensei was rather low, after all.

A young soulmate... Like Jiraiya...

The man in question would undoubtedly rib at him for having a young soulmate, even this his own was the heiress of the Yamanaka Clan, barely old enough to be considered a proper kunoichi. She had only just become a genin this year, just like Minato and Tsume's own sons.

In all honesty, Orochimaru did not believe he should receive any kind of criticism from Jiraiya on the topic of _young_ soulmates. But, knowing his still immature best friend, the man would find it completely okay to make fun of him.

Orochimaru was not looking forward to that... But he didn't mind. He'd been dealing with Jiraiya since they before they had become genin. All that truly mattered was finally getting to meet his soulmate.

Years of waiting had made him both patient yet unbelievably excited for this meeting. He could not wait to meet his soulmate.

~/~

"I still can't believe I'm stuck sharing a day with Kankurou..." Temari grouched as they trekked through the new-to-them route to Konoha, gaze on her clothed shoulder.

Years of living in the desert left all three genin marveling at the sudden onslaught of green that surrounded them. But their teacher merely walked as if this wasn't anything novel, as if he'd seen trees before. And, in all fairness, he most probably had. But the three kids were still shocked by the lack of _sand everywhere._

The puppeteer rolled his eyes at his sister's obvious plan to anger him, but said nothing to incite a fight. Temari had always been a bitch. Well, actually, when they had been younger, she had been nice and kind, like Gaara. But their father's indifference and underlying hate for Kankurou had rubbed off on her subconsciously and now she was almost as bad as him. _Never_ as bad as him, she'd never beaten him into a bloody pulp, no matter how much she had tried. But she was still bad.

"Temari..." Gaara warned, turning his green, pupil less eyes on their older sister.

"What?" She feigned innocence, "It's just a shame that I won't be able to get my own damn day when it comes to my soulmate."

It had always pissed Kankurou off to no end to hear his sister's voice be able to change from overly innocent to utterly bitchy in the same damn sentence.

On a normal day, the puppeteer would have ignored their younger sibling trying to mediate their flaring anger and spit out some insult at the annoying blonde. But seeing how he currently had more pressing issues to worry about, he just kept his mouth shut as he walked.

Baki Bastard's silence from behind all three of them was enough to let him know that, even though he didn't like it, he had done the 'right' thing. Right for everyone else's health, wrong for his own sanity.

He was supposed to meet his soulmate in two weeks. In the midst of the Chunin Exams, if everything went right and they managed to pass the first half of them.

Even with all of the hatred he felt for the person he was supposed to be bound to, there was still a small part of Kankurou that was excited to finally meet them. There was this small part of his soul that felt like it was being pulled forward, towards Konoha. A small part that ignored every other part of Kankurou that shouted at it for being so stupidly optimistic.

He wanted to hate his soulmate. Hell, he still hated the snake on his neck, which he had covered up because of the simple reason his father would not have allowed him to become chunin if he hadn't played by the bastard's rules. But... There was that _one_ part of him...

Kankurou sighed heavily at his words, managing to make Gaara turn a quizzical eye on him before the elder boy waved him off.

Well, he couldn't properly hate someone until he met them to be sure of the assholes they were.

~/~

"The date's nearing..."

Orochimaru swatted at the gentle finger that ran along the date above his collarbone. But instead of giving the ever infuriating Jiraiya an answer, the snake-like man turned his gaze on the man's companion and offered a small smile.

"Hello, Ino. How are you?"

The blonde chuckled at the pout Jiraiya made at being ignored, but soon looked back at her soulmate's best friend and answered back. "I'm good, Orochi. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Kakashi Sensei to give your teams one last pep talk?"

Here being a small tea shop near his home. It was one of Orochimaru's favorite places to go to, seeing how it was always peaceful and quiet. And the fact that it was far from most of Konoha certainly didn't hurt.

"You know our dear Orochi does not begin his day without a proper conversation with his best friend over a nice cup of tea, Queenie." Jiraiya smiled down at the blonde girl with eyes shining of disgustingly clear admiration, which made Orochimaru feel like rolling his eyes.

These two were overly sickening. Jiraiya had always been a love-struck fool, always got himself overly distracted with emotions. Even as kids he had been extremely prone to crushes and falling head over heels. And now that he had his soulmate around to always gush over, the man had become almost insufferable.

But Orochimaru had grown accustomed to playing as a pseudo-uncle to the young Yamanaka and had grown attached to her himself, so he put up with their too obvious displays of affections for the most part. Even though he drew the line at hearing them gush over _each other_.

"Actually," Orochimaru took a sip of his tea as Jiraiya squawked indignantly and Ino smiled, then continued, "Lord Minato decided it would be best for the sensei to leave their charges alone for the remainder of the Chunin Exams. We can speak to our kids if they seek us out, but our time of teaching and advising has ended until the Exams are completed."

Ino's eyes widened at the information, clearly surprised to hear that she wouldn't be getting any more lessons from Asuma, but soon smiled and sat herself on the bench opposite Orochimaru. Jiraiya quickly followed suit and wrapped his large arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side with practiced ease. And, by all accounts, it should only be natural at this point. He'd been using the same move for so long that it would be wrong for this to not be instinct at this point.

"Don't worry, Queenie, you'll still have me to help you out."

The blonde's hair whipped almost harshly as she turned to glare up at Jiraiya, nudging him pretty roughly with her elbow, "You're not funny."

"Hey!" The man tried to maneuver away from the blonde, only to stay in his place and just take the abuse to not separate from his soulmate. "I'm helpful."

"No, you're not." The blonde deadpanned, then turned to look at Orochimaru as if asking for backup.

"You are not." The dark haired man nodded, then smiled when Jiraiya glared directly at him. "But at least you're cute."

Immediately his friend's mood changed and he was smiling once more. Although this time he looked like a complete buffoon. Orochimaru offered a half-exasperated roll of his eyes at his friend's theatrics, all the while the young Yamanaka agreed, "Doesn't need to have brains to be cute."

After this, Ino and Jiraiya picked up a conversation they had dropped earlier, asking Orochimaru for his input every now and again. But he was allowed to remain in silence most of the time, something for which he was grateful.

Only two weeks until he finally met his soulmate. Finally, all of his waiting would end. Finally he'd have an actual love in his life other than just friends that put up with him.

Softly, he allowed his fingers to trace over the spot Jiraiya had touched over a few minutes ago. When he touched his mark, it tingled softly. But whenever anyone else did it, nothing happened... If his soulmate were to touch it... Would it react? And if so, how?

"So, Orochimaru, the kids were thinking about throwing a small party once they pass the second phase of the Exams." Jiraiya's enthusiastic tone pulled Orochimaru out of his musings, making the man look at him with slight perplexion, "Tsume, Yoshino, and Shikaku have all agreed to allowing them a small bash if they prove they deserve it. Will you be part of it?"

Hearing the names of the people that made up one of the most complicated love stories he had ever heard of made Orochimaru pause for a moment.

Shikaku and Yoshino had once been married, even managed to create life together. But in an odd twist of fate, Shikaku's soulmate wound up being the Head of the Hyūga Clan's nephew, Neji. And in an even odder twist taken by destiny, Yoshino found Tsume a few weeks after her husband found his own soulmate.

It still left Orochimaru stunned how Tsume and Yoshino had never met before Shikaku had found Neji. But he just guessed that this was simply how fate worked, taking many twists and turns before it allowed a person to get to their (hopefully) magnanimous destination.

"So sure you kids are of passing?" The Sannin finally asked after a moment's pause.

"Yup." Ino smiled broadly at him once again. "And you're going to celebrate with us!"

The idea that Ino and all of her friends were able to pass the first two stages of the Chunin Exams was much too farfetched for Orochimaru to believe in. But the girl's eyes were shining so brightly that it was obvious to anyone that looked that she actually thought it was achievable. And upon looking at Jiraiya's stern warning glare, the dark haired man knew that it wouldn't be a good idea to try and break the reality to the Yamanaka heiress.

Orochimaru breathed in as he raised his cup to his lips, then offered a small frown to the girl, "If there are no more pressing matters to tend to." Which meant that he would be going, albeit reluctantly.

Almost unbelievably, the girl's eyes began to twinkle even brighter. And with a smile on her face, the blonde leaned into Jiraiya's side and closed her eyes, clearly content with knowing that Orochimaru would be attending their little get together.

~/~

Passing the first phase of the Exams had been easy enough with Gaara on their team. The bastard proctor with the (pretty damn cool) scars on his face had tried to scare the genin into failing. A few idiots had given up, like cowards without backbones.

(For a second, the thought of Temari ruining chances for all three of them by giving up crossed the teen's mind. But, even with how much he hated his stupid sister, Kankurou had to admit that she wouldn't give up so easily. She was tough... For a girl.)

After that, they breezed through the Forest of Death. Having a powerhouse like Gaara on their team had ensured an easy victory without any of them having to work too hard. The red head had felt somewhat guilty over having won with such ease, but Kankurou assured him that if the suckers they had gotten the scroll from had deserved to keep it, then they would have given him a lot more trouble to defeat. And while this hadn't completely convinced Gaara, the youngest of the three had stopped questioning their methods out loud.

Apparently, a lot of the snot nosed brats from Konoha also managed to pass through.

There had been a few to catch Kankurou's attention, like the loud mouthed blonde boy that had stopped him from beating respect into a spoiled little brat, or the pink haired girl that wound up being Gaara's soulmate. But he'd met them earlier, gotten to know them a bit more because his siblings had managed to make fast friends with them.

Kankurou didn't care for any of them.

If he was being honest, the only brat from Konoha he found even marginally interesting was the long haired blonde girl with the soul mark displayed proudly on her torso. Her's was a frog, of sorts... Well, more like a toad. It had incredibly wide black eyes and seemed to smile, which made no sense to the puppeteer. Just why would a person with a creature so ugly be portrayed with such a kind smile?

It wasn't normal to have one's mark out on display. But the blonde seemed to be more than okay with having her's on full display. And her friends and teammates all seemed to not give a damn about it either.

In a way, Kankurou envied her. She seemed perpetually happy, her bright blue eyes always smiling during the times he had seen her walking around the village. And at one point he had even seen her laugh as she pointed at her mark while she spoke with a pointy haired boy. It didn't seem like a sarcastic laugh, either. Instead, it looked genuine, as if she were poking fun at herself. All that Kankur had ever wanted was what this girl seemed to have: people that accepted his mark.

As they stood waiting for the Hokage to finish up giving his speech about there being too many genin passing onto the third phase if they didn't do something about it, Kankurou could barely contain his fidgeting.

Temari had finally seen her soulmate. She refused to tell him or Gaara who it was, but Kankurou didn't particularly care. He was much too busy wondering what his own soulmate might look like, what kind of person they may be.

He really wished it was a bastard. Then he'd have a reason to completely go against his father's wishes without any kind of point to make the bastard happy.

Even though the jerk hated Kankurou's mark, the person it portrayed, the bastard was still a firm believer in the idea that soulmate's were created to always be together. Even though he despised everything about Kankurou, the bastard still wanted him to be with his soulmate. And it would just be the cherry on top if they happened to be from a distant village, for he would gladly allow Kankurou to leave and never return to Suna if that were the case.

If his soulmate was a complete bastard, then Kankurou would be within his rights to give his father the ultimate 'fuck you': Taking on a lover that wasn't his soulmate.

The only reason he hadn't done so yet was because of the simple reason that it would break his mother. But if he were to at least have the excuse of his soulmate being a bastard, then she couldn't be hurt by his decisions. He'd have a logical reason for his refusal of their traditions.

Temari had already met her soulmate today. For the rest of his life, Kankurou would have to hear about how she had found them first, so she was better than him for some reason only she understood. But, really, there was no reason for him to even think about this. Temari would always be unbelievably difficult to deal with. There was no reason to worry about it.

He was supposed to meet his soulmate today... It was only a matter of time before Kankurou would finally see the person he had hated for the past seven years. Only a matter of time before he met the person he'd hate for the rest of his life.

~/~

Hayate was much too sick to be able to proctor the qualifying battles. Yugao had refused to allow him to leave their apartment. And if there was something no one dared do, it was go against someone's wishes when it involved their soulmates. So, just like Minato had asked of him, Orochimaru found himself playing Hayate's part.

He was more than aware that if any of his kids managed to pass, there would be whispers of favoritism that had allowed them to pass. But Minato knew Orochimaru, knew that the man would never pass kids that weren't ready to go to the finals. And, quite frankly, Orochimaru would be toughest on his Team because he knew exactly what they were capable of.

He had seen _all_ of his genin teams pass their Chunin Exams with flying colors. From Tsume's team, to Anko's, to Hana's, and every single one in between, none of the man's kids had been left behind. This was something that brought the Snake Sannin much pride, something that made him stand out from his incredibly successful old teammates.

Conflict of interest regarding his ties to many of the Leaf Village genin aside, nobody doubted that Orochimaru would do a good job refereeing the matches. He had cemented himself as a reasonable and logical man a thousand times over, leaving his emotions in the back burner while reasoning took full control of him.

There was no doubt in his mind that he would be able to mediate these battles without any kind of difficulty.

At least... There hadn't been any doubt. But as soon as his eyes fell on a certain darkly clad genin from the Hidden Sand Village, Orochimaru began to doubt his ability to keep his mind focused on the fights.

As a child, he had spent many nights wondering how it would feel when he finally saw his soulmate. He had thought it would be like he'd read in Jiraiya's cheesier novels (no amount of pride for his best friend would ever make him read the things the man was infamous for loving), that his heart would catch in his throat and there'd be nothing but his soulmate.

In a way, he had been right to believe this. But he had underestimated the effects of finding his soulmate.

His heart did not only leap into his throat, but it seemed to wish to jump out and head in the direction of the boy lined up with the rest of the genin. Every single cell that made up his body felt pulled in the direction of the teen, as if an unseen force was trying to make them come together as soon as they could.

Not only that, but the mark on his neck began to warm in the best way possible, his skin dancing in excitement at finally getting the chance to meet the person that was destined to be his for the rest of his life.

Purple paint. The same shade the puppet on his neck wore. Dark, intelligent eyes. Exactly like the human eyes the marionette on Orochimaru's skin held within its skull.

The first time their eyes connected, Orochimaru felt as if the world fell away from him. The only thing that kept him stable was those unbelievably guarded eyes on him, centering him even as he swore his soul would leave his body.

"It was about time."

What brought him out of his trance was Minato's obviously amused voice and a grounding hand on his shoulder. "I'm guessing your soulmate is one of the candidates." The man whispered into his ear, making sure they were not overheard.

Dumbly, keeping his eyes connected with the boy's own, Orochimaru nodded.

"Think you can still do your job?"

Once more he nodded.

Then, finally, "Alright. I trust you." This was accompanied by a harsh slap to his back that was meant to further shock him out of the trip that was finally meeting his soulmate, then Minato spoke out loud. "I leave you in Orochimaru Sensei's capable hands."

With those final words, the overly bubbly blonde walked away, leaving the Snake Sannin to mediate over the semi-final rounds to the Chunin Exams.

For a few more blissful seconds, the man kept his eyes on the boy's, trying to decipher just why there was so much visible pain within them. But then he reminded himself of the job he had to do and began to speak, telling the genin exactly what would be happening and where they would wait as the fights happened.

Soon enough, the first match was taking place and the genin teams that had managed to get this far waited on the viewing area of their building. Orochimaru stood a way's away from the fighting area, knowing rather well that he didn't want to seem _too_ dazed to the teachers waiting with their students.

~/~

The first thought that came to Kankurou's mind when his eyes connected with the man that was to be the mediator of the semi-final round was _'Fuck'_.

Years of pain and torment under his father's roof left his mind. The fact that he had never made more than just a handful of friends because of the mark on his neck abandoned him. And every single _ounce_ of hatred he had held for the snake on his neck seemed to vanish, replaced by nothing but awe at the pure power the man exuded, the respect he demanded without having to say a single word.

Instead of trying to find things he hated about his soulmate, all Kankurou could think about was the fact that the man seemed to just be _perfect_.

He didn't know why. He'd never been attracted to anyone he had ever met in his life. Not women, not men. Nobody he'd ever come across had ever caught his attention, non had made him even begin to think about how attractive they could be.

Kankurou knew that he was acting oddly. His movements were mechanical and felt _off_ , but he couldn't be bothered to care. His mind was much too preoccupied with the image of his soulmate speaking calmly yet forcefully, taking control of what would be occurring during the semi-finals in a way that not even the Leaf's Kage had managed to do.

Beside him, he could tell Temari and Gaara were looking at him in worry. But he wasn't about to tell them what had happened, he wasn't prepared to admit that he didn't feel any hate within himself anymore.

There was no way in the world that years upon years of built up anger and rage had dissipated into nothing because of just _one person_. It didn't happen. It wasn't possible.

"Kankurou?"

Temari's voice wasn't grating anymore. For the first time in a long time, all that Kankurou could hear was worry and care within her, not anger and resentment.

The boy frowned at this thought for he found it hard to believe that his sister could possibly care for him. But then her hand was grabbing his. And Kankurou was so caught off guard by this that he looked up at the blonde, only to be stunned when he found her smiling comfortingly at him.

"It's wonderful, isn't it?"

Did... Did she know?

His heart beat loudly, pounding much faster than it should in a non-combat situation.

"Shut up." Kankurou muttered as he snatched his hand back, then crossed his arms over his chest to look away from her.

Faintly, he heard her mutter, "Fine, be a bitch about it..."

But, really, Kankurou didn't care about having hurt Temari in any way. The bitch had hurt him so many times that he felt _nothing_ for her. Nothing at all.

He cared about no one. Not even his soulmate. Forget the guilt that was trying to bite at his (nonexistent) conscience for having spurned Temari. Forget the need to rush away from the viewing area so he could jump into his soulmate's arms. Forget all of that. Kankurou didn't need anyone. Never had, never would.

And finding his soulmate wasn't going to change that.

~/~

There was darkness clouding Orochimaru's emotions. Even though he wanted to be proud of the unbelievably amazing display of power and technique between Hinata and her cousin, there was something in the back of his mind weighing his happiness down.

"The winner is Neji." The man announced as he tried to keep his face from showing his emotions, then looked up at the board to see the next contestants.

Kiba and Shino jumped down from the viewing area to pick their teammate up, making Orochimaru internally approve of their close ties. If there was one thing he always emphasized in his teams, it was the need for camaraderie. Them going out of their way to help Hinata walk away from the match, even with how injured she was, proved to the man that they truly were a family. Or pack, in Kiba's case.

The girl was injured and should receive some kind of medical attention. But from the way she waved off the medical ninja that walked up to her, Orochimaru knew she wanted to stick around and see the rest of the fights.

Later on, he would scold her for denying herself a basic need. But right now, he would allow for her to see her teammates and soulmate fighting. She deserved it after the fight she had put up against her skilled cousin.

"Kankurou of the Sand will fight Misumi of the Leaf." His heart jumped in a manner that annoyed him once his soulmate's name left his lips. He wasn't some teenager to be so enraptured by his soulmate. And there was no need to give away the fact that he had just found the boy that was his soulmate.

Both fighters entered the ring with confidence surrounding them. Both seemed arrogant. But, for some reason, Orochimaru knew that Kankurou's was just an act. He wasn't sure why he knew this. He just did.

As both combatants fought, if that's what such a one-sided match could have been called, Orochimaru felt things he had not in a long time. _Worry_. _Terror_. _Horror_.

He was an inch away from stopping the match when Kankurou insisted that Misumi break his neck. But just as he was about to take a step forward to call the winner, his body froze.

No longer was he worried. Instead, he was somehow _proud_. The very feeling he hadn't been able to appreciate after Hinata had won was now filling him. Even though his soulmate was about to get his neck snapped.

But... He wasn't. It had been a puppet all along.

Kankurou defeated Misumi in a brutal, bordering on inhumane way. A course of action that- while Orochimaru couldn't properly approve of it- was effective and ensured an enemy would stay down while out in the field.

When the boy looked up at him, waiting for Orochimaru to declare him the winner, the man finally understood why it was that he had not been able to feel proud of Hinata.

His soulmate's own darkness was now weighing down on him.

~/~

There was no reason for him to feel like whooping in joy when the lavender eyed boy won against a female copy of himself. But, even through all of his dark thoughts about wanting to resent life and everything in it, the idea of cheering struck him like lightning.

As if that hadn't been annoying enough, he'd then begun to feel like _shit_ when the snake-like man declared him the winner of his bout.

Instead of being able to feel _awesome_ for having proven that Leaf bastard wrong for having underestimated him, Kankurou wasn't able to enjoy his victory. All he could feel was guilt for having crushed every bone in the idiot's body.

He didn't like feeling like this.

And he couldn't understand why it was that he felt like this.

The rest of the preliminaries were spent leaned against the wall nearest his team with his arms crossed, scowl on his face and annoyance running all through him.

He had just passed on to the final stage of the Chunin Exams. He was so close to getting that promotion that he could _taste_ it. But he wasn't able to enjoy it.

 _Why?_

~/~

By the time all of the genin had finished up, Orochimaru _needed_ to speak with his soulmate.

His thoughts were so concentrated on the hurting boy that the Sannin wasn't able to feel happy of seeing Shino pass to the finals or even angry at the terribly disgusting way Minato's son had beat Tsume's.

Once he'd solved all the problems that plagued his soulmate, Orochimaru would have a stern talking to with both Minato and Naruto. The pure luck the boy had been graced with to beat his student had been just that, _pure luck_. The boy could not hope to continue relying on this dumb luck unless he wanted to die in the field.

But right now, as he watched the genin shuffle out to relax from the grueling preliminaries, all Orochimaru could think of was getting to his soulmate to give him a hug.

The first thing he would do was give him a hug. Then he would invite him out for some tea, to be able to talk. And then he would kill whoever it was that had hurt him so much he thought it futile to meet his soulmate.

The more time that had passed, the more Orochimaru had been able to decipher his soulmate's feelings. And, in a way, his thoughts. The Sannin wasn't sure if he was correct, but he could only imagine that this must be what Jiraiya was always going on about whenever he and Ino were far away. He always somehow just _knew_ everything that was going on with her, even though they didn't communicate in any way.

Orochimaru had not understand this illogical reasoning until today.

As he walked over to the only team from Suna, the Sannin offhandedly noticed Kiba hovering over a bored Shikamaru and Chouji shifting from one foot to another, gaze on the very team he was walking up to. But the man was much too busy looking into his soulmate's eyes to think about any of these kids.

Once he had dealt with his soulmate, he would wonder just what had gotten into Chouji and scold Kiba for mothering a Nara again. But, right now, all that was on his mind was Kankurou.

The boy's Sensei looked him over for one second before he stepped away without saying a single thing. Then the blonde girl walked away, followed by the red headed boy.

His soulmate huffed and rolled his eyes, both hurt and unsurprised by their sudden departure.

"Kankurou." Orochimaru's lips tingled now as he said the boy's name, all the while he tried to keep his face as neutral as possible.

On one hand, he wanted to smile at finally getting a chance to speak with his soulmate. But, on the other, he wanted to grab all three people that had left him behind and question them as to why they would suddenly leave without telling him a single thing. Maybe even threaten them, get them to _not_ treat the boy like meaningless dirt.

Never before had he ever felt such a strong urge to act impulsively. And it was all because he had finally met his soulmate.

"It is..." He began, then shook his head. "There are no words that could ever accurately describe how I feel about finally meeting you."

~/~

Now that the snake man was right in front of him, there was no way Kankurou could deny this being his soulmate. He didn't know why. But suddenly he just felt _right_.

Even with how Baki Bastard had left him, even with how his siblings had decided to ditch him to meet with their own soulmates, Kankurou didn't feel bad anymore. He just felt light, bordering weightless.

The man was much older than he thought initially. Even with the lack of lines of his face, Kankurou could see lines of white poking out from the long hair he kept tied in a low ponytail. And, even with the slightly tall collar his shirt held, he could see bits of a soul mark peeking from beneath.

It didn't feel like the man wore the shirt to hide his mark because of shame. Instead it felt like a purely coincidental thing, as if he didn't have a single care about where his mark lay and only wound up hiding it because of a fashion choice.

Kankurou wished he never had to spare his neck a single thought.

Remembering all of the grief that the damned snake on his neck had given him made Kankurou frown. But just when he was about to tell the man before him off, letting him know that he wanted nothing to do with him, something unbelievable happened.

Non-threatening and _warm_ arms wrapped around him, pulling him into a solid chest, pressing his ear up against a quickly beating heart.

"You are now with me. Nothing will ever hurt you again." The man's voice was just above a whisper as his arms held firm around him, not letting Kankurou try to pull away.

But the boy wouldn't, even if he could.

The man's... _Orochimaru's_ heartbeat... It was in synch with his own.

Their hearts were beating as one.

They were beating together, caught in an amorous melody only they could hear.

"I…" Kankurou, for the first time in a very long time, was at a complete loss for words. But he didn't feel bad about it. Instead, he was relieved that he didn't have to try and talk back to yet another person. Relieved he wouldn't have to fight tooth and nail for yet another thing. He wouldn't have to face conflict just to be accepted.

A tender and soft kiss pressed against the plate on his forehead, a clear sign of affection from his soulmate. "Would you like to go for some tea?"

~/~

Whenever Jiraiya and Ino hugged and touched one another in front of him, Orochimaru felt envious of not having found his own soulmate before his best friend had found his.

But now that he finally had his soulmate in his arms, tucked into him, _safe_ , Orochimaru could not fault them anymore.

If it were up to him, Kankurou would never be hurt ever again. And if he _did_ get hurt, there would be _hell_ to pay.

If it were up to him, Kankurou would be with him for the rest of their lives. As long as the boy was near, then he'd be able to protect them. He'd never be hurt in _any_ way because Orochimaru would always be near.

There were dozens of emotions fighting within his soulmate. Pain, anger, regret, _hope_. They swirled within him, fought for dominance, screamed to get attention.

"I believe that we have spent enough time separated." Once more, Orochimaru reveled at the feeling of finally having his soulmate in his arms, "Let us get to know another."

Slowly, almost at a snail's pace, young arms began to climb up his sides. Tentatively, almost shyly, they hesitated over his back. Then, with a heavy breath, they applied pressure, finally returning the hug.

"I've got lots of issues."

The boy's voice was muffled, face pressed into Orochimaru's chest.

"I am aware."

"I hate you."

At this, Orochimaru smiled sadly. "You hate your family, you hate your life, you hate your village... But you do not hate me."

There was a pause in which the boy said nothing, only stiffened in his embrace. Then he loosened, although his arms still stayed around Orochimaru, "Figures I'd be stuck with a smartass for a soulmate..."

Now Orochimaru's smile was genuinely delighted. "Tea?"

Kankurou's arms tightened around him, "Just... Give me a moment..."

"Of course."

Kankurou had many problems. Emotionally and mentally speaking. His life had not been easy and it had left him fractured.

But now they had found each other. And there was no way Orochimaru would ever allow him to continue living in pain.

"You are my soulmate."

He may have whispered it out loud, but he knew for a fact that Kankurou _screamed_ it. _In his soul_.

* * *

I have finished this story! Took me two days and I'm proud. I'm thinking of making other one-shots that revolve around other relationships in this universe simply because I fell in love with different pairings as I wrote this.

Hope you all liked it! Please review and tell me what y'all think!


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